Aunjanue Ellis Joins 'The Mentalist' as CBI's New Boss

That's a question for the title character on 'The Mentalist,' since Aunjanue Ellis will join the cast of the second-year CBS drama as the alluring and utterly hard-as-nails new head of the California Bureau of Investigation.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ellis, who appeared on Broadway earlier this year in a revival of August Wilson's play 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' and had a featured spot in 'The Taking of Pelham 1 t2 3' remake, will play a career law-enforcer aiming to shake things up at the ever-emotional CBI. She'll replace actor Gregory Itzin, whose character, Virgil Minelli, retired after the murders of three CBI agents, including Terry Kenney's edgy Sam Bosco -- a quick way for Itzin to return to his gig playing a former president on '24.'

Can Patrick Jane already see her coming?

That's a question for the title character on 'The Mentalist,' since Aunjanue Ellis will join the cast of the second-year CBS drama as the alluring and utterly hard-as-nails new head of the California Bureau of Investigation.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Ellis, who appeared on Broadway earlier this year in a revival of August Wilson's play 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' and had a featured spot in 'The Taking of Pelham 1 t2 3' remake, will play a career law-enforcer aiming to shake things up at the ever-emotional CBI. She'll replace actor Gregory Itzin, whose character, Virgil Minelli, retired after the murders of three CBI agents, including Terry Kenney's edgy Sam Bosco -- a quick way for Itzin to return to his gig playing a former president on '24.'

Ellis' character will be the boss of Robin Tunney's Agent Teresa Lisbon, whose limited use for Jane's flashy, taunting antics provides the show with its periodic flare-ups and dashes of unintended comedy. Ellis' debut is set for April.

And a word of advice to Ellis' character, whose name hasn't been released as yet: Take the ever-draining Jane on his own terms. That's the only way to cut 'The Mentalist' down to size.